It all started with a postcard. Samuji’s pre-collection designer, Jenni Väänänen, received a handwritten note with a portrait of Swiss journalist Annemarie Schwarzenbach, and just like that, she had a new muse. She pored over photographs of the traveler and writer from the 1930s, finding uncanny parallels between the androgynous adventure woman and the effortlessness and simplicity that are at the core of Samuji. Väänänen’s Pre-Fall lineup was an homage to Schwarzenbach’s streamlined, tomboy look, but one that was softer and just a touch more feminine. Instead of pleated trousers, the designer showed linen high-waisted, A-line pants in a smooth, light brown shade. In place of a straightforward trench, she created a dense linen overcoat and paired it with a matching miniskirt. Where there could have been structured men’s shirting, there was a sheer white and blue shirtdress. Oversize silk pajamas that Schwarzenbach might have donned during her globe-trotting days were reinvented with painterly dots and dizzying Art Deco motifs.

Those original hand-painted prints, as well as the pops of lime green and orange, made for a lively break in the modern, minimal repertoire of Samuji. So too did the accessories, including an oversize, loosely woven straw sunhat and oblong clutch made from white and tan yarn. In her third season, Väänänen seems to be making slow but steady progress in putting her own smart, subtle touches on the Finnish label’s staple clothes.